Indicia wheel assembly



1956 B. s. SMILGYS INDICIA WHEEL ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 18, 1964 WM R ow MT. ms V m0 ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,269,305 PatentedAugust 30, 1966 3,269,306 WDlCIA WHEEL ASSEMBLY Bruno S. Smilgys,Hartford, Conn, assignor to Veeder- Root Incorporated, Hartford, Conn, acorporation of Connecticut Filed "Feb. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 345,612 9Claims. (Cl. 101-110) The present invention generally relates toregistering devices of the type having a plurality of coaxial indiciabearing wheels mounted for individual rotation, as by selective manualmanipulation, and more particularly to a novel and improved indiciawheel assembly having notable utility as a printer with the wheelsembossed to provide peripheral printing characters.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an indiciaWheel assembly of the type described having a novel and improvedconstruction with a minimum number of parts that may be economicallymanufactured and quickly and easily assembled into a highly compact anduseful device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedprinting wheel assembly providing rigid Wheel support and accuratepositioning of the printing characters for precise printing results.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an indi-ciawheel assembly of the type described having a new and improved detentmechanism for retaining the indicia bearing wheels in selected angularpositions and which allows for manually repositioning or indexing thewheels.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide animproved printing wheel assembly constructed of plastic.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view, partly broken away and partly insection, of an indicia wheel assembly embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section View taken along line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse section view taken along line 44 ofFIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the illustrated indicia wheelassembly embodying the present invention provides a printer with sixprinting wheels 2 each embossed with characters providing a sequence ofnumeral indicia of through 9, inclusive, and thereby adapted forprinting the calendar date, i.e., with pairs of wheels providing thenumerical month, the day, and the last two digits of the year.

The assembly includes a frame 4, preferably molded of a suitableplastic, having a base 6 and a pair of integrally formed spaced shaftsupports 8 upstanding from adjacent the ends of the base. The outerportions of the shaft supports 8 are provided with aligned openings 10which snugly receive the conforming reduced end portions 12 of a shaft14, also preferably molded of a suitable plastic.

Referring to FIG. 4, the shaft-receiving openings 10 are of generallycylindrical shape excepting for being defined in part by coplanar flatshaft supporting surfaces 18. The reduced end portions of the shaft 14and an intermediate enlarged shaft portion 19 are of generallycylindrical shape excepting for a flat axial surface 20 extending thefull length of the shaft and engaging the coplanar supporting surfaces18. Radial shoulders 21 formed at the ends of the intermediate shaftportion 19 adjacent the reduced end portions 12 abut the opposedparallel planar surfaces 23 of the upright shaft supports 8. In thismanner the shaft is fixed on the frame against rotative and axialmovement and with the flat shaft surface 20 facing generally toward thebase and extending laterally of the shaft axis at an angle oblique tothe plane of the base and thereby assist in precluding inadvertentreverse assembly of the shaft on the frame.

The printing wheels 2 are rotatably mounted on the intermediate portion19 of the stationary shaft 14 for which purpose they are provided withinternal generally cylindrical surfaces 29 for receiving the shaft. Inthe preferred manner, the wheels are angularly positioned with theselected characters for printing in axial alignment at a station removedfrom the base 6 and adjacent the cylindrical part of the shaft oppositethe flat axial surface 20.

In the shown embodiment the printing characters are arranged on thewheels so that the next higher numeral character in the sequence may bemoved to the printing station by indexing the wheel in the clockwisedirection, as seen in FIG. 2, for which purpose peripheral radialgrooves 24 may be provided between adjacent numerical characters formanual indexing of the wheels.

The printing wheels 2 are arranged in three spac'ed pairs with the pairsof wheels being separated by combination spacer and supporting ribs 30integrally formed with the base intermediate the shaft supports 8. Theribs 30 are generally U-shaped with outwardly extending fingers 31, 33on opposite sides of the shaft and with intermediate laterally extendingflat supporting surfaces 34 coplanar with the flat surfaces 18 of thesupports 8. The fingers 31, 33 are formed with inner concave edgeportions 36, 37, respectively, adjacent to their juncture with thesurfaces 34 and which conform to the contour of the shaft 14 and therebyprovide additional lateral support for the shaft. The intermediatesupport of the shaft 14 is provided by the flat surfaces 34 and by theconcave edge portions 36, 37 thus ensures that the shaft and thereforethe number wheels will not yield under the force of printing, with thewheels thereby being maintained in axial alignment for precise printingresults. The ribs 30 together with the parallel opposed faces 23 of thesupports 8 further serve to prevent axial movement of the printingwheels 2, with the axial distances between the ribs 30 and between theupright supports 8 and the ribs being substantially equal and sufficientto accommodate individual rotation of the wheels.

In order to maintain the embossed characters of the wheels 2appropriately aligned at their printing station a plurality of axiallyaligned radially resilient pawls 40 are formed integrally with the shaft14. As shown in FIG. 2, the pawls 40 include supporting arms 41extending circumferentially from adjacent the flat axial surface 20 andin overlying relationship therewith whereby the pawls 40 may bedeflected radially inwardly toward the shaft.

The internal generally cylindrical surface 29 of each wheel 2 isprovided with generally semicircular radial grooves 52 radially alignedwith the printing characters. The free ends of the pawls 40 are formedwith radial protrusions or detents 42 projecting outwardly from thepartially cylindrical outer surfaces 43 of the supporting arms 41 so asto be receivable in the wheel grooves and thereby restrain the wheelsagainst rotation. As shown in FIG. 2, the detents 42 are locateddiametrically opposite the printing stations to ensure maximumeffectiveness of the pawls when the printing wheels are under printingpressure; and the flat shaft surface 20 extends laterally of the shaftaxis at an angle oblique to the radial of the detents to provide amaximum shaft bearing surface for the printing wheels. The detents 42are formed with generally V-shap'ed outer surfaces providing inclinedcarn surface portions 44, 46 engageable by the opposed edges 53 of thewheel grooves 52 to deflect the detents inwardly out of restraininginfluence upon rotation of the wheels in either angular direction.Because of the supporting arm mounting of the detents, however, thepawls are more readily displaced out of the grooves 52 by indexing thewheel in the clockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 2, such being thedirection for displacing the next higher numeral character on the wheelsto the printing station.

Assembly of the printer may be rapidly and easily effected by firstmounting the printing wheels 2 on the shaft 14 in the illustrated pairedarrangement with the detents preferably received in the Wheel grooves52. The shaft supports 8, which are made outwardly resilient, are thendisplaced outwardly, and the shaft 14 with the wheels assembled thereonis inserted between the shaft supports 8 and onto the supporting ribs30, whereupon the shaft supports 8 are returned to their normal uprightpositions with the reduced end portions of the shaft received andthereby locked in the aligned openings 10 of the supports. In theillustrated embodiment this assembly of the shaft 14 is facilitated by apair of opposed nonparallel surfaces 61 formed on the opposed faces ofthe supports 8'and inclined away from each other outwardly of theopenings 10. As a result the ends of the shaft 14 may be simultaneouslypressed against the inclined faces '61 to deflect the supports 8outwardly and to thereby facilitate the insertion of the ends of theshaft into the openings 10. Such outward flexing of the supports 8 maybe readily controlled by appropriately dimensioning the length of theshaft 14, as for example in the shown embodiment the shaft isdimensioned so that its reduced end portions 12 extend approximatelyhalf way through the openings 10 (FIG. 1).

Thus it will be seen from the foregoing that the indicia wheel assemblyof the present invention is compact and lightweight and is readilysusceptible to economical methods of production and assembly.Additionally, as a printing device with the wheels provided withsuitable peripheral printing characters, accurate alignment of theprinting characters under pressure is ensured with complete and preciseprinting results.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modificationsand adaptations of the structure above described will become readilyapparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a registering device, a frame having a pair of spaced shaftsupports, a shaft mounted on said shaft supports having a flat axialsurface, said shaft having a plurality of axially spaced integrallyformed pawls with radially resilient arms extending circumferentiallyfrom adjacent said flat axial surface and detents at free ends thereof,and a plurality of number wheels rotatably mounted on the shaft andabout the pawls, said number wheels having inner generally cylindricalsurfaces engaging the shaft formed with a plurality of angularly spacedradial grooves adapted for selectively receiving the detents and therebyrestrain the wheels against rotation, and said frame having a ribextending between a pair of wheels with a flat supporting surface inengagement with the flat axial surface of the shaft.

' 2. A printer comprising, a frame having a base and a pair of spacedshaft supports upstanding from the base, said shaft supports havingaligned shaft mounting openings defined in part by fiat coplanarsurfaces facing generally away from the base, a shaft having reduced endportions closely received in said aligned openings with a flat axialsurface in engagement with said coplanar surfaces, said shaft supportsbeing flexible outwardly from each other to permit insertion of theshaft between the shaft supports and of the shaft end portions into saidopenings, said shaft having a plurality of axially spaced integral pawlsintermediate the shaft supports with radially resilient arms extendingcircumferentially from adjacent the flat surface of the shaft anddetents at free ends thereof, and a plurality of printing wheels withangularly spaced printing indicia on the periphery thereof rotatablymounted on the shaft about the pawls, said printing wheels having meansfor selectively receiving the detents for restraining the rotation ofthe wheels and for deflecting the detents inwardly upon rotation of thewheels, said frame further having a spacer rib upstanding from the basebetween two of the wheels with a fiat surface in the plane of saidcoplanar surfaces and in engagement with the flat axial surface of theshaft.

3. A printer comprising a frame having a base and a pair of spaced shaftsupports upstanding therefrom, said supports having aligned mountingopenings defined in part by coplanar flat surfaces facing generally awayfrom said base, a shaft having reduced end portions closely received insaid aligned openings with fiat axial surfaces in engagement with saidcoplanar surfaces, said supports being outwardly resilient to permitinsertion of the shaft between the supports and of the shaft endportions into said aligned openings for assembly of the shaft on thesupports, a plurality of printing wheels rotatably mounted on the shaft,and detent means for selectively restraining the printing wheels againstrotation on the shaft.

4. The printer defined in claim 3 wherein the spaced shaft supports haveopposed nonparallel surface portions inclined away from each otheroutwardly of the aligned openings, said nonparallel surfaces beingengageable by the ends of the shaft for deflecting the end walls apartand thereby permit insertion of the end portions of the shaft into thealigned openings.

5. A registering device comprising a frame having a base and a pair ofspaced shaft supports upstanding therefrom, said shaft supports havingaligned openings defined in part by coplanar flat supporting surfacesfacing generally away from the base, a shaft having reduced end portionsclosely received in said openings and a flat axial surface between theends thereof engaging said coplanar surfaces, said shaft having radialshoulders adjacent its reduced end portions engageable with the shaftsupports, said shaft supports being flexible away from each other topermit insertion of the shaft between the supports and of the shaft endportions into said openings, a plurality of radially resilient pawlsaxially spaced along the shaft having arms extending circumferentiallyfrom adjacent the flat axial surface of the shaft and detents at freeends thereof, and a plurality of printing wheels rotatably mounted onthe shaft about the pawls, said printing wheels having generallycylindrical surfaces engaging the shaft formed with a plurality ofangularly spaced radial grooves for selectively receiving the detentsand thereby restrain the printing wheels against rotation on the shaft,said detents having oppositely facing cam surface portions engageable bythe wheels for deflecting the detent pawls inwardly upon rotation of thewheels, and said frame having spacer ribs upstanding from the basebetween the wheels with flat surfaces extending in the plane of saidcoplanar surfaces and in engagement with the flat axial surface of theshaft.

6. A registering device comprising a plastic frame with a base portionand integrally formed upstanding spaced shaft supports with alignedshaft openings therein formed in part by flat coplanar surfaces facinggenerally away from the base, a plastic shaft having its end portionsreceived in the aligned openings with a flat axial surface in engagementwith said coplanar surfaces, a plurality of plastic number wheelsrotatably mounted on the shaft between the shaft supports, the framehaving an integrally formed spacer rib upstanding between two of thewheels with a flat supporting surface in the plane of the coplanarsurfaces and in engagement with the flat axial surface of the shaft, andpawl means integrally formed with the shaft adapted for cooperation withthe wheels for restraining the wheels in selected angular positionsagainst rotation.

7. In a registering device, a frame, a molded plastic shaft fixed in theframe having an elongated flat axial surface, said shaft having aplurality of axially aligned integrally molded pawls with radiallyresilient arms extending circumferentially from adjacent the flat axialsurface of the shaft and detents at free ends thereof, and a pluralityof number wheels rotatably mounted on the shaft and about the pawlsrespectively for receiving the pawls internally thereof, said numberwheels having inner generally cylindrical surfaces engaging the shaftand formed with a plurality of angularly spaced radial grooves forselectively receiving the detents and thereby restrain the wheelsagainst rotation, and said detents having camming edge portionsengageable by the wheels for deflecting the detents inwardly toward theelongated flat axial surface upon rotation of the wheels.

8. In a registering device, a frame, a shaft fixed in the frame having afiat axial surface, said shaft having a plurality of axially alignedintegral pawls with radially resilient arms extending circumferentiallyfrom adjacent the fiat axial surface of the shaft and detents at freeends thereof, and a plurality of number wheels rotatably mounted on theshaft about the pawls, said number wheels having inner generallycylindrical surfaces engaging the shaft and formed with a plurality ofangularly spaced radial grooves for selectively receiving the detentsand thereby restrain the wheels against rotation, said detents havingcamming edge portions engageable by the wheels for deflecting thedetents inwardly upon rotation of the wheels, and said flat axialsurface of the shaft extending larterally of the shaft axis at an angleoblique to the radial of the detents.

9. A printer comprising a frame having a base and a pair of spaced shaftsupports upstanding therefrom, said supports having aligned mountingopenings defined in part by flat surfaces, a shaft having reduced endportions closely received in said aligned openings with flat axialsurfaces in engagement with said flat surfaces of the spaced shaftsupports, said supports being outwardly resilient to permit insertion ofthe shaft between the supports and of the shaft end portions into saidaligned openings for assembly of the shaft on the supports, a pluralityof printing wheels rotatably mounted on the shaft, and detent means forselectively restraining the printing wheels against rotation of theshaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,582 11/1908Hill 10l--96 904,120 11/1908 Eyer 101l0'7 1,202,414 10/1916 Olson101--88 1,644,144 10/1927 Osborne et al 101-110 2,249,627 7/1941 Druckeret al. 10l110 2,966,843 1/1961 Eckley 101110 3,190,217 6/1965 .Reiner101l10 WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A REGISTERING DEVICE, A FRAME HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED SHAFTSUPPORTS, A SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT SUPPORTS HAVING A FLAT AXIALSURFACE, SAID SHAFT HAVING A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY SPACED INTEGRALLYFORMED PAWLS WITH RADIALLY RESILIENT ARMS EXTENDING CIRCUMFERENTIALLYFROM ADJACENT SAID FLAT SURFACE AND DETENTS AT FREE ENDS THEREOF, AND APLURALITY OF NUMBER WHEELS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE SHAFT AND ABOUT THEPAWLS, SAID NUMBER WHEELS HAVING INNER GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL SURFACESENGAGING THE SHAFT FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OF ANGULARLY SPACED RADIALGROOVES ADAPTED TO SELECTIVELY RECEIVING THE DETENTS AND THEREBYRESTRAIN THE WHEELS AGAINST ROTATION, AND SAID FRAME HAVING A RIBEXTENDING BETWEEN A PAIR OF WHEELS WITH A FLAT SUPPORTING SURFACE INENGAGEMENT WITH THE FLAT AXIAL SURFACE OF THE SHAFT.